Olivia Burnette (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress.

Olivia Burnette began her acting career at the tender age of 6. The most notable of her first acting jobs was in Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) opposite comic superstar Steve Martin.

After several television appearances, Olivia was cast as the lead in the down-home series “The Torkelsons” (1991), playing Dorothy Jane.

Olivia continued her television career with a few television movies, before being cast in The Quick and the Dead (1995), which allowed her to work with such actors as Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone and Russell Crowe.

Olivia continued her work on the big screen in Eye for an Eye (1996) with director John Schlesinger, and got the opportunity to play Sally Field’s daughter as well as be brutalized in a controversial scene by Kiefer Sutherland.

Determined to obtain a college degree, Olivia left Los Angeles to attend the prestigious NYU, Tisch School of the Arts. She graduated with not one but two majors: Film and English. After school, she was inspired to buy the rights to a novel and adapted it into a screenplay, which is currently being shopped.

Most recently, Olivia has been seen in the hit television show “CSI: NY” (2004) along with Oscar nominated Gary Sinise and Emmy nominated Melina Kanakaredes, and in the naval drama “Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service” (2003) with Mark Harmon.

Her most recent feature film entitled Flourish (2006), which also stars Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer from the hit Fox drama “House M.D.” (2004), premiered at the world renowned Cinequest Film Festival 2006, as well being screened at the Cannes Film Market in 2006.

She currently resides in Southern California with her husband, singer/songwriter/producer Julian Sakata, and her five year old stepson, Rain.

-Source  IMDB.com

 

Edward Norton

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edward Harrison Norton  (born August 18, 1969) is an American film actor, screenwriter and director. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. A year later, his lead role as a reformed white power skinhead in American History X earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. His other films include period dramas such as Kingdom of Heaven (2005), The Illusionist (2006), and The Painted Veil (2006); and other notable films such as Rounders (1998), Fight Club (1999), 25th Hour (2002), Red Dragon (2002), and The Incredible Hulk (2008).

Aside from acting, Norton made his directorial debut with the film Keeping the Faith (2000) and is slated to direct the film adaptation of the novel Motherless Brooklyn, set to be released in 2010. He is a member of the board of trustees of Enterprise Community Partners, a non-profit organization for developing affordable housing, as well as a social activist.

Trade Mark

Known to play characters who have dual personalities.

Often plays intelligent but troubled characters

 

Trivia

Following graduation, he worked in Osaka, Japan, consulting for his grandfather’s company, Enterprise Foundation, which works to create decent, affordable housing for low-income families.

On his return to New York, it took less than two years of waiting tables before the young thespian to capture the eye of Edward Albee, one of the most celebrated playwrights of the 20th century. Albee was working with the Signature Theater Company on a new production of Fragments. One audition and Norton landed the role, as well as a slot in Signature’s repertory company. He currently serves on its board of directors.

He played guitar with Courtney Love’s band Hole in two gigs in Los Angeles, in December 1998.

In July 1998, after a New Yorker jibe in a review of a documentary about Courtney Love, Norton sent the magazine a frameable letter. Norton’s missive was in response to Endless Love, a piece by Daphne Merkin centering on Nick Broomfield’s controversial documentary Kurt & Courtney (1998). The film, filled with speculation that Love’s husband Kurt Cobain death was murder rather than suicide, features a litany of Love-haters anxious to air their grievances. The magazine’s coverage of Broomfield’s film “along with Merkin’s thoughtful contributions” didn’t sit well with Norton.

When Norton met with the director for Primal Fear (1996), he told them that he, like Aaron, came from eastern Kentucky. Norton even spoke with the twang (which he prepared by watching Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)).

His character Aaron Stampler in Primal Fear (1996), which was based on a book, did not have a stutter, but when he auditioned he gave him one.

Was one of the few celebrities invited to Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s Malibu wedding. [June 29, 2000]

During filming, he and Fight Club (1999) co-star Brad Pitt took soap-making classes.

He and Rounders (1998) co-star Matt Damon competed in the World Series of Poker at Las Vegas on May 1998 with the movie studio Miramax paying the $10,000 per person entrance fee.

His character, Worm, in Rounders (1998) was originally supposed to smoke but being avid non-smoker, he refused and the part rewritten as a non-smoker.

He worked as a waiter, a proofreader, and a director’s assistant to try to get his foot in the door in New York City. He applied to be a New York City cab driver, but he was rejected for the license because he didn’t meet the age requirement.

Speaks some Japanese, which helped when he worked, briefly, for his grandfather’s company, The Enterprise Foundation. He was assigned to the Osaka, Japan branch until he quit the desk job grind at his grandfather’s suggestion and decided to try to break into acting in New York.

Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, Maryland, where Edward graduated in 1987, built a new auditorium for the performing arts several years ago. He revisited his alma mater and gave a lecture on the day of the dedication. It is named after Edward’s grandfather, James Rouse.

Received a B.A. in history from Yale in 1991, but took many theater and Japanese courses as an undergraduate. He has said in interviews that he took as many theater courses as he could without majoring in theater.

The theme song for Keeping the Faith (2000) – “Heart of Mine” by Peter Salett – was not written specifically for the film. Salett is a good friend of Edward’s.

According to Yale’s newspaper, he has wanted to play the poet Dylan Thomas for a long time, but feels he’s not physically right for the part.

While a precocious 8-year-old actor, he asked a surprised director of a play, “What is my objective here?” The director was startled by his interest in acting.

His babysitter, Betsy True, went on to perform as Cossette in a Broadway version of Les Miserables. She was the one who originally piqued Edward’s interest in acting, taking him to see his first play, If I Were A Princess, at age six.

Auditioned for the role of ‘Rudy Baylor’ in the movie The Rainmaker (1997). The role eventually went to Matt Damon.

Got the role for Fight Club (1999) because director David Fincher enjoyed his performance in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), which was the only film of the actor’s that he had seen.

Dedicated his directoral debut, Keeping the Faith (2000), to his late mother, Robin.

Brother of Molly Norton and James Norton.

Turned down the role of Private Ryan in Saving Private Ryan (1998).

Oldest of three children.

Was considered for the role of Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon (1999). Director Milos Forman could not decide between him and Jim Carrey and left the decision up to the studio. The studio decided to go with Carrey.

His grandfather, James Rouse, is credited with being the inventor of the modern shopping mall.

Lost several pounds for Fight Club (1999).

Holds benefit screenings of his films mostly at The Senator Theatre in Baltimore, MD to benefit some charities that includes the Living Classroooms Foundation and the St. Frances Academy Robin Norton Scholarship Fund in honor of his late mother.

Producers of American Psycho (2000) wanted him to play Patrick Bateman.

Played The Captain in a VH1 Captain & Tenille Behind the Music skit on “Saturday Night Live” (1975) with Drew Barrymore. The show aired the night before the 1999 Oscars where he was a nominee for American History X (1998). Barrymore accompanied Edward to the Oscars.

Has a tabby cat named Maggie, named after the character from Cat in a Hot Tin Roof.

Dated Salma Hayek. [1999-2003]

His grandfather, James Rouse, designed the planned community Norton was born in – Columbia, Maryland.

Did NOT attend the famed Yale Drama School, as reported in many news paper articles. He attended Yale merely as an undergraduate.

His father, Edward Norton Sr. was an attorney for president Jimmy Carter.

As a response to the events of September 11th and the increasing conflict in the Middle East, he contributed to establish the Middle East Peacemakers Fund at Yale University.

Norton already had two Oscar nominations before he was 30.

College buddies with Ron Livingston at Yale.

Was attached at one point to star in Hart’s War (2002) but walked away from the project and an $8 million salary. The role later went to Colin Farrell.

Voted International Man of the Year (2003) By British GQ Magazine.

Shares a birthday with Patrick Swayze, Denis Leary, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Robert Redford and Christian Slater.

He served as Artistic Director for the Signature Theatre Company in New York from 2001-2003. He is currently still on the board.

Shaved his head and gained 30 pounds of muscle in 3 months by drinking protein shakes, meat shakes (blended roast beef), and lifting weights non-stop for his role as Dereck Vinyard in American History X (1998).

Was born in Boston, Massachusetts and was raised in Columbia, Maryland.

Was 33 years old when he played Will Graham in Red Dragon (2002). His predecessor, William Petersen, was also 33 years old when he played the same role in Manhunter (1986).

He speaks Spanish.

He treasures his private life and being able to live a normal life – and can’t imagine not being able to take the New York subway if he gets too famous.

Stuart Blumberg, Edward’s friend from his Yale college days, wrote most of what was to become the basis for Keeping the Faith (2000). Edward starred, produced, and directed the romantic comedy, but he also assisted Stuart in writing the original story.

Won a Village Voice Obie Award for his role in the off-Broadway show Burn This in 2003.

Drew Barrymore accompanied him to the Oscar in 1999 where he was nominated for “Best Actor in a Leading Role”

Did an uncredited rewrite of the script of Frida (2002).

Credits legendary acting coach Terry Schreiber as being a major reason behind his success as an actor. The story was that Norton, who speaks Japanese, worked a deal with Schreiber to trade acting lessons for Norton teaching Schreiber Japanese. Schreiber was to direct a play in Japan at the time, and agreed to the deal. Norton studied with Schreiber for about three years in the early 90s in New York, and his career subsequently took off. Norton wrote the introduction to Schreiber’s 2005 acting text “Acting: Advanced Techniques for the Actor, Director, and Teacher.”

Like fellow film actors Peter Sarsgaard and Jeanine Louise DeName, he studied at New York City’s famous T. Schreiber Studio.

Is an active member of Friends of The High Line, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and reuse of the High Line – a 1.5 mile elevated railway that runs along the West Side of Manhattan. Norton appears in a video made by Good Mag about the conversion of the old rail line into a multi-use trail.

Speaks some French and said he really liked the work of Francois Truffaut, a French director.

Turned down the role of Bruce Banner in Hulk (2003), but took the part in The Incredible Hulk (2008).

Studied with renowned Hollywood Gun Coach Thell Reed, who taught other actors as: Brad Pitt, Val Kilmer, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Ben Foster and Girard Swan.

Says if he wasn’t an actor he would be a pilot.

He was was going to play Terry Fitzgerald in Spawn (1997) but pulled out of the project.

Auditioned for roles in With Honors (1994), Hackers (1995), and Up Close & Personal (1996) before his film debut in Primal Fear (1996).

He often works out daily, mainly weight-lifting, before he’s on set.

Specializes in characters with multiple personalities, be it as a mental defect or a disguise. He has played people with several identities in Primal Fear (1996), Fight Club (1999), The Score (2001), The Incredible Hulk (2008) and arguably in American History X (1998) in which his character turns 180° during the course of the story and in Death to Smoochy (2002) in which he portrayed a professional actor and his character Smoochie the Rhino.

Following graduation, Norton worked in Osaka, Japan, consulting for his grandfather’s company, Enterprise Foundation. He also appeared in an ESL textbook, Only in America, used by Nova, a major Japanese language school.

 

Keith Ian Carradine

(born August 8, 1949) is an American Academy Award-winning songwriter, and actor born into a family of actors.

Carradine was born in San Mateo, California, the son of actress and artist Sonia Sorel (née Henius) and actor John Carradine.  His paternal half-brothers are the late David Carradine and Bruce Carradine, his maternal half-brother is Michael Bowen, and his full brothers are Christopher Carradine and Robert Carradine.

David, Robert and Keith Carradine appeared together as the Younger brothers in Walter Hill’s 1980 film The Long Riders, with Keith playing Jim Younger. Carradine appeared again for Hill in 1981′s Southern Comfort.

Carradine’s first notable film appearance was in director Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller in 1971. He also portrayed the character Kwai Chang Caine as a teenager in the 1972 television series Kung Fu (the adult Caine was portrayed by his half brother, David). He went on to play one of the principal characters, a callow, womanizing folk singer, in Altman’s critically acclaimed 1975 movie Nashville and his song from that movie, “I’m Easy”, was a popular music hit in 1976. Carradine won an Oscar for Best Original Song for writing the tune.

In 1977 Carradine starred opposite Harvey Keitel in Ridley Scott’s The Duellists. He has worked several times in the offbeat films of Altman’s protégé Alan Rudolph, playing a disarmingly candid madman in Choose Me (1984), an incompetent petty criminal in Trouble in Mind (1985) and an American artist in 1930s Paris in The Moderns (1988). He also had a cameo role as Will Rogers in Rudolph’s 1994 film about Dorothy Parker, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. Carradine co-starred with Daryl Hannah as homicidal sociopath John Netherwood in the 1995 thriller The Tie That Binds.

Other works include Emperor of the North Pole (1973), Pretty Baby (1978) and My Father My Son, a television movie in 1988. In 1983 he appeared as Foxy Funderburke, a murderous pedophile, in the television miniseries Chiefs, based on the Stuart Woods novel of the same name. His performance in Chiefs earned him a nomination for a Emmy Award in the “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special” category.

In 1984 he appeared in the video for Madonna’s single Material Girl. In the early 1990s he played the lead role in the Tony Award winning musical, the “Will Rogers Follies”. He was nominated for Broadway’s 1991 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for this role.

More recently Carradine starred in the ABC sitcom Complete Savages, and played Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series Deadwood. He has also appeared as a host of the factual Wild West Tech show on the History Channel. In the 2005 miniseries Into the West, produced by Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks, Carradine played Richard Henry Pratt. He also has a recurring guest role on the hit Showtime series Dexter as FBI Special Agent Frank Lundy. Carradine made appearences on the show’s second and fourth seasons.

Carradine’s stage career is distinguished by Tony-nominated performance as the title character in The Will Rogers Follies in 1991 (for which he also received a Drama Desk nomination). He won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Foxfire with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, and appeared as Lawrence in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Imperial Theater. He was also in the cast of the original Broadway production of Hair in 1972, appearing in the roles of Woof and Claude. In 2008, he appeared as Dr. Farquhar Off-Broadway in Mindgame, a thriller by Antony Horowitz, directed by Ken Russell, who made his New York directorial debut with the production.

 

Trivia:

His recording of “I’m Easy” reached #17 on the US charts in August, 1976.

Daughter, actress Martha Plimpton, is from his relationship with Shelley Plimpton.

Uncle of actress Ever Carradine and Kansas Carradine.

For his role on “Deadwood” (2004), he was trained by renowned Hollywood Gun Coach Thell Reed, who has also trained such actors as: Val Kilmer, Kurt Russell, Sam Elliot, Girard Swan, Russell Crowe, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Originally, it was his half-brother David Carradine who pursued a role in the Broadway musical “Hair” in 1969. At his audition he brought Keith along to play the piano. Keith ended up winning the part and stayed with the show for six months.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.